-- It's official. Bostonist reported back in April that the Longfellow Bridge is falling apart, which is clear to anyone who walks across it. As of Friday the sidewalk facing Back Bay was closed to pedestrians to repair a support beam. And no spectators will be allowed on the bridge to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July. [Boston Globe] -- Ed O’Reilly, an attorney and former lobsterman from Gloucester, is going to......

--Only five percent of the commonwealth's taxpayers went uninsured after the new law requiring health insurance went into effect. [WBZ] --William Bulger, former UMass president and brother of Whitey, is back in the news. Bulger's former law partner has been disbarred for encouraging clients to lie about Whitey's whereabouts. William Bulger was investigated but was not charged for the same offense. [Boston Globe] --Surviving Grady has another reason to freak out with the news......

Senator Ted Kennedy went under the knife today for his brain tumor, and is now out of surgery. The Globe reports that Senator Kennedy has emerged from surgery at Duke University Medical Center (what, MGH wasn't good enough?), where his doctor, Allan Friedman, said "Senator Kennedy's surgery was successful and accomplished our goals." As of now, Kennedy plans to return to the senate when his treatment has been completed. We hope Teddy is on a......

Update:Ted's got good doctors. Word is the surgery was successful. The mass media is abuzz with the news that Senator Ted Kennedy is undergoing surgery on the tumor discovered in his brain. He's at Duke University Medical Center right now. The surgery, which is being led by Dr. Allan Friedman, will take six hours, and he will go through chemotherapy and radiation afterward. Given Kennedy's prominent position, a team of experts flocked to discuss his......

--Mayor Menino has suspended one of his own employees, the head of the Department of Public Works, for letting an employee work from her parent's house in Venezuela, which probably wouldn't have been a big deal if the arrangement hadn't lasted for five months. [Boston Globe] --Neil Entwistle is going to trial for the murders of his wife and baby daughter, and the press, both American and British, is expected to swarm. [Boston Herald]......

--A doctor and a nurse at Gloucester High School would like to give contraceptives confidentially to students, but Addison Gilbert Hospital refused, so the doctor and the nurse have quit in protest. They should do something, as the high school has had 17 teen pregnancies this year. [Boston Herald, WBZ] --Former Red Sox pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who pitched for many, many MLB teams and was recently pitching in Japan, was struck by a bolt......

--A list of the troops who died since last Memorial Day. [Blue Mass Group] --A five-year-old boy was struck and killed by a Newburyport/Rockport train when he was riding his bicycle across the train tracks in Revere. The incident is under investigation. [WCVB, Boston Herald] --Nothing, not even a brain tumor or, for that matter, wind turbines, keeps Ted Kennedy from sailing. He really should get a tattoo that says "Figawi Forever." [WBZ] --Anyone......

--Erwin Hirsch, chief of trauma surgery at Boston Medical Center, died yesterday when his boat capsized off the coast of Maine. Hirsch also did tours in Vietnam and Iraq. He was 72 years old. [Boston Herald, Boston Globe] --A lawyer for Neil Entwistle, the man who allegedly killed his wife and 9-month-old daughter in Hopkinton in 2006, has summoned ex-Herald reporter Michele McPhee and current Herald reporter Laurel Sweet for a story they did......

--Obligatory stories about high gas prices over Memorial Day. Thanks to high gas prices, now you have to dig for conversation topics with family members at home instead of on the Cape. [Boston Herald] --Did Mayor Menino just call Bill Clinton "Big Daddy"? [Boston Globe] --Governor Deval Patrick is in trouble again for spending like a drunken sailor. Dan Kennedy suggests he may have a "tin ear." Then again, it's Menino who called Bill......

--So, there's a guy who comes to the United States from another nation, and he puts in his time. He works hard, and he commits a grand public service that few American citizens are brave enough to try--teach high school. And what does he get for his trouble? Deported. [Boston Globe] --The new head of the RMV, Rachel Kaprielian, who was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick, knows a lot about driving and the law.......

Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The 76-year-old senator has been recovering at Mass. General Hospital with his family after suffering a seizure on Saturday that caused him to be airlifted from Cape Cod. Kennedy's doctors reported that biopsies revealed a malignant glioma in Kennedy's left parietal-lobe. Kennedy's immediate family continues to accompany him in the hospital. No statement has yet been made to the press. Glioma is a preliminary diagnosis,......

After a scare that involved a helicopter trip to Mass General, doctors say Senator Ted Kennedy will be all right after having a seizure yesterday morning. Reports indicate that Kennedy is just fine and was watching some of the Red Sox game. If he is still in the hospital this afternoon, the doctors should swiftly wheel the television out of his room, lest he stumble across the Celtics-Cavs Game 7 and get really riled up.......

Update: The Herald's sources say Kennedy showed "stroke-like symptoms." Update to the Update: Kennedy's office has released that he had a seizure. [CNN] The Cape Cod Times is reporting that Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy fell ill this morning at the Kennedy compound and was "rushed" to the hospital. First he went to the Cape Cod Hospital, but then he was taken by helicopter to Mass General. He is 76 years old. He had surgery on......

This week, the Civil Society Institute released survey results that showed 82 percent of people in Massachusetts approved of Cape Wind, which would install wind turbines in Nantucket Sound. The news came out just as Cape Wind supporters were pushing for US Rep Ed "Biz" Markey to publicly back the project. {They are not lobbying Senator Ted Kennedy, who, in a fit of NIMBYism, has opposed the project from the get-go because Nantucket Sound is......

The rumors that JFK fathered a love child who is now living in Canada have not gone away. In fact, they seem to be gaining strength, at least up north. The love child went to the press and revealed some information about himself. His first name is "Jack," of course. The Herald has his full name, but the Toronto Globe & Mail does not. "Jack" wants DNA tests, and he says people stop him and......

On top of the loss of his chosen presidential candidate, Barack Obama, in the Massachusetts primaries (debate on the "Kennedy Lift" here), Senator Ted Kennedy now has to deal with more rumors about the Kennedy Clan. The Kennedy Clan has always been a magnet for rumors, some sordid, some not, some true, some not. In this case, whether or not it is true, the latest rumor will have a high-profile mouthpiece in the form of......

Yesterday we focused on the negative: neither Ted Kennedy nor John Kerry nor Deval Patrick was able to help Barack Obama to a win in the Massachusetts primary. However, Atlantic blogger Matthew Yglesias slowed the rush to proclaim Kennedy's irrelevance with a helpful chart: It's obvious there (and it was obvious here and here) that Obama had a lot of momentum heading into the voting--though it's impossible to say exactly how much of that was......

Massachusetts' legendary senior Senator and national liberal icon, Ted Kennedy. Massachusetts' junior Senator and the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry. Massachusetts' precedent-shattering Governor, Deval Patrick. None of the endorsements were enough for Barack Obama to win the Massachusetts primary. While we gave a lot of attention yesterday to Senator Obama's epic Boston rally, Seth Gitell was reminding people that--press attention and celebrity status aside--the two strongest political machines in the state belong to Boston's......

Republican presidential aspirant and former Massachsuetts governor Mitt Romney is the projected winner of the state of Massachusetts over John McCain this Super Tuesday, according to CNN. And that victory was by no means a given since Romney didn't exactly leave Massachusetts wanting more. However, Romney is still fighting for states, and Mike Huckabee (plus buddy Chuck Norris) is racking up enough votes that neither one can catch up to the front-runner, John McCain. Huckabee......

While chants of "Fired up! Ready to go!" echoed through the World Trade Center, Massachusetts political heavy-weights rallied behind the historic presidential bid of Senator Barack Obama. Senator Kerry's introduction spoke of experience that comes from "wisdom, instinct, gut, and courage - not age" and he stated that "history gives us moments and we must decide what to do with them." When Senator Obama finally took the stage he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.......

People, so many people, mostly young people, people everywhere. There were so many people waiting in line for Senator Barack Obama's rally at the Seaport World Trade Center last night that the campaign turned the queue into a phone bank, handing out lists of voters and asking people to use their cell phones to plead for support. There were so many people waiting in the cold that a nearby Dunkin' Donuts had to prematurely......

Ted Kennedy catches a lot of crap just being himself. Ted-Kennedy-As-Orator is probably Jon Stewart's second-favorite impression after the George W. Bush chuckle. Throw in the alleged drinky-drinky, and Ted Kennedy makes for quite the media spectacle. Since he announced his endorsement of presidential aspirant Barack Obama, the Peanut Gallery has renewed its love affair with poking fun at Teddy. But Glenn Beck at Headline News hurt our brains when he started imagining our Senator......

Bostonist saw John Kerry mingling with the functionaries at Mayor Menino's State of the City in Dorchester a couple of weeks ago, and we realized we had forgotten a couple of things about him. One, he's damn tall. Two, he's an elected politician. The nature of American incumbency makes it difficult to dislodge any Senator once they're in power, but Massachusetts has it particularly bad. Our duo in Washington has a combined 70 years in......

Hot on the heels of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's endorsement of Barack Obama, Senator Edward M. Kennedy has also endorsed Barack Obama for president. Voters likely saw it coming when Kennedy told ex-president and First Campaigner Bill Clinton to stifle himself and let Hillary Clinton do her own campaigning. The Globe's Political Intelligence analyzes Kennedy's decision as a big "up yours" to the Clintons: The coveted endorsement is a huge blow to New York Senator Hillary......

--Tom Brady has been sighted, sans boot. Phew. [AP/Boston Herald] --Today's Herald headline, which reads "Vrabel Unafraid to Bare All," is mighty misleading. [Boston Herald] --WiFi starts this week on the Worcester-Framingham commuter-rail line. [AP/Boston Globe] --Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg has endorsed Barack Obama. Could an endorsement from Teddy Kennedy be far behind? [WBZ] --A man from Auburn died while snowboarding in Colorado on Friday. Jared Daniel "may have suffocated after falling headfirst into a......

Hillary Clinton has a strong chance of becoming president, if it weren't for the continued momentum of Barack Obama. However, no matter how much hope and Oprah Obama ladles on the land, Clinton will always have one strong advantage--former president Bill Clinton. Is that entirely fair? Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy, who knows a thing or two about political dynasties, says no. Kennedy hasn't bestowed his endorsement on anyone, but he has, according to Jonathan Alter......

Update: Greenpeace sent out a statement regarding Cape Wind. Greenpeace approves, with a caveat: "While the review is positive, it does point out that Cape Wind needs to minimize the impacts to avian species. We, along with others alarmed by the climate crisis, look forward to participating in the public feedback process of this review and doing all we can to bring this important global warming solution to Massachusetts." The US Minerals Management Service released......

Both Massachusetts senators, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, have close experience with presidential campaigns, so who can blame them for waiting a little bit to make an endorsement? Kerry's dominance in the last go-round came as a surprise after the Dean campaign collapsed in Iowa. The field of Democrats is deep this year, and, like Deval Patrick, our Senators have to be cautious about making endorsements since the Clintons are such a powerful force. But......

--Three firefighters were injured in a blaze in Weymouth. At first, officials suspected arson because the home was about to be sold, but they've since declared it accidental. [WBZ] --Firefighters could use a dose of good PR, but it's not coming. On the heels of cheating accusations, some firefighters are under suspicion of boosting their disability pensions by claiming their injuries took place when they were filling in for higher-paid superiors. [Boston Globe] --In a......

--Officials investigating the fire that killed 2 people in a South Boston condo think that it may have been set intentionally. WCVB reports that "vandals targeted the family before." [WCVB] --John Martorano, a hitman for Whitey Bulger, will be interviewed on "60 Minutes" this Sunday. [WBZ] --20-year-old Drew Davis of Maine, who took a dive at Patriots Stadium before the Dolphins game and landed on concrete instead of on a snowbank will undergo surgery......